Transformers: Apocalypse
by Not My Real Name
Summary: Part 3 of my Sonic/Transformers trilogy. The end of the world is imenent, and it's up to Sonic Heroes, the Autobots, and the Armada to stop it.
1. Breaking the Unbreakable Bond

Notme: Time to start the final leg of my trilogy.

Disclaimer: Sega owns Sonic, Hasbro owns Transformers, Ultimate Soldier owns the Ultimates, Koopa Commander Gregory owns the character with the same name, and I own the DImensionals that aren't Transformers.

Shadow: What about later additions?

Notme: I'll site them when they appear.

* * *

Transformers: Apocalypse

The Story So Far

_(First part of recap: Obsidian narrating)_

(Play the "Autobots", from the 2007 Transformers movie score)

_The adventure started simply enough. Sonic the Hedgehog was in yet another battle with Dr. Eggman, when the fight activated an ancient race of robotic warriors: the Transformers. The Autobots defenders of peace and freedom, led by the heroic Optimus Prime, and the Decepticons, conquerors of worlds, led by the evil Megatron. The war between the two factions immediately reengaged in the war that they had started four million years ago. The Autobots quickly sided with Sonic, and the Decepticons were just as fast to side with Eggman._

_Not long afterwards, they encountered another dimension's Transformers, along with the Ultimates, one of the most powerful races in the multiverse. The newcomers also chose sides, and the war ignited into an all-out fight for the seven Chaos Emeralds. But, there was another being, not sided with either faction, who was watching, waiting, biding his time for the perfect time to strike. His name: Unicron, the Chaos-Bringer!_

_In a huge battle, Unicron was soundly defeated by me, Obsidian, as I regained my memory of who I was before being sealed in time._

Sonic: Who are you talking to?

Obsidian: Just…reflecting on what's happened so far, that's all.

Sonic: Okay, my turn!

_(Second part of recap: Sonic the Hedgehog narrating)_

(Play, "In the Groove", from Sonic Adventure 2)

_Not long afterwards, the Autobots revealed their existence to the people of the Earth of my dimension, and with their help, constructed Autobot City. While that was happening, an evil being called Darkstone attacked Primus, sending the God of Order into a deep sleep._

_Obsidian was charged with recovering the four Cyber Planet Keys, which protected Primus's dormant powers. He brought us along for the ride, since he didn't trust anyone else, and, really, I can handle anything!_

Obsidian: Sonic, stop bragging!

Sonic: Oh alright…

_After a lot of fighting, we managed to get the Keys, and, then, we had to fight Darkstone himself. It was during this battle that we found out his true identity, when his partner, Essence, took a blast meant for Obsidian. Darkstone revealed that he was once called Umbros Drake, father to Hunter, Blizz, and Essence._

_We managed to defeat Darkstone, but then his former master, the one and only Unicron, was revived, and that wasn't the end of it. As it turns out, Unicron was possessed by something called the Chaos Dragon, which used Unicron's power to revive itself. Its reign of terror didn't last long, though. _

_Obsidian and Light Lopez, another friend of ours, summoned the gods of their races, the One (better known as Notme), and Ultimate Soldier, respectively. The two gods defeated the Chaos Dragon in no time flat, and peace was restored._

Shadow: What are you guys doing?

Sonic: Reflecting.

Hunter: Okay, me next!

_(Third part of recap: Hunter Drake narrating)_

(Play "Escape from the City" from Sonic Adventure 2)

_The six months after that were rather action-packed. Darkstone was arrested, and Notme separated him from my father, Umbros. Darkstone escaped after that, and we're still looking for him. Luckily, his powers were greatly reduced._

_Eggman broke ties with Starscream, the leader of the Decepticons in Sonic's dimension, because he wanted to return to being more "world domination", and less "multiversal destruction"._

_Besides that, my sisters are doing well in the world of love. Lucky them. Essence started going out with Obsidian. As for Blizz, she's doing even better. Zane Trusdale, world-renowned Duel Monsters champion, and Blizz's boyfriend, recently proposed to her, on her birthday, no less! They're yet to finalize wedding arrangements, though._

Blizz: Why are you guys just standing around talking to yourselves?

Hunter: We were reflecting on our adventures so far.

Obsidian: (checks watch) Uh-oh, I gotta go! Essence and I are going to a movie.

Hunter: Have fun!

Shadow: There's nothing left to reflect on.

Hunter You can think of something, right?

Shadow: You're right!

_(Part 4 of recap: Shadow the Hedgehog narrating)_

(Play "Continue", from Shadow the Hedgehog)

_Other events included me and Julie finally getting to see the movie we wanted to see upon getting to a theater. Sonic let his appearance in _Brawl_ go to his head. We finished construction of the new headquarters for Sonic Heroes, which better accommodates Cybertronian guests. Well, that's about it._

Hunter: Those are all minor notes.

Shadow: Oh well.

Sonic: Well, I'm off.

Shadow: Me too.

Hunter: I gotta go, too.

Blizz: Yeah, me four.

* * *

Breaking the Unbreakable Bond

Darkstone rode a stolen motorcycle through Mission City, being pursued by a yellow Camaro with racing stripes and a blue Topkick. He turned a corner, and crashed into the white Solstice with green stripes parked right there. "I KNOW YOU DIDN'T JUST SCRATCH MY NEW PAINT JOB!!!" the car shouted as it transformed.

Darkstone got off the totaled bike and ran past Jazz, running into a red Peterbilt 379. "What's with you Autobots and my capture!?" he asked. "I don't know," the truck replied as it transformed, "maybe you shouldn't have harmed all of those innocent beings." "Just try to catch me now," Darkstone told Prime as he flew away, soon blocked by an F-22, an MH-53 helicopter. "Just surrender already," the jet said, "I'm getting tired of chasing you."

Darkstone kept fleeing the various Transformers until he noticed Blizz near a military dune buggy "No sign of Darkstone over-mmph!" Blizz said as Darkstone rushed over and grabbed her, putting his hand over her mouth. Darkstone threw Blizz into the passenger side of the buggy, and got into the driver's seat. He turned the buggy on and accelerated away from the Autobots and Decepticons.

A Saleen police car drove into his path and transformed. "I wouldn't fire if I were you, Barricade," Darkstone said, "I happen to have a hostage!" "Good point," Barricade replied. "I can still do this," Ironhide said when he arrived, throwing the Allspark at the buggy. The cube hit its mark, and the classic transforming sound is heard. The driver's seat turned and wrapped around Darkstone as if it were a hand. The buggy then transformed into a robot, holding Blizz gently, while keeping a tight grip on Darkstone.

"Good work, Ironhide," Prime said. "I don't get all the credit," Ironhide replied, "also thank the newest Autobot." "What's your name, soldier?" Prime asked. "Landmine, reporting for duty," the buggy-robot replied, "did this guy hurt you, miss?" "Not really," Blizz replied, "and the name's Blizz."

Obsidian arrived. "Thanks for your help, guys," he said, "Darkstone, you know this already, but, in the name of the Dimensional Council, you're under arrest."

(Later)

Blizz got back home after that ordeal. "Hey, sis," Hunter said, "how'd it go?" "We finally got him," Blizz replied, "unfortunately, though; he got the drop on me again." "At least this time you were rescued by where he was holding you," Hunter said. Blizz laughed. "You're right," she said, "Zane's probably gonna be worried sick about this!"

"He just called," Essence said as she came into the living room, "he said he would've been, had Ironhide not turned that dune buggy into a Transformer." "Why didn't you guys tell me as soon as I got in the door!?" Blizz asked angrily. "We were getting there," Hunter said, "we just wanted to check on you first." "Like I really need to be checked on," Blizz said, "I'm not a kid, and you two are both younger than I am!" "Oh, so Zane can be worried about you, but we can't?" Hunter asked, "We're your siblings, we're allowed!" "I just want to be alone right now," Blizz said, starting to leave, "don't follow me." "But," Hunter said, starting to go after her. "I said don't follow me!" Blizz yelled as she went outside. "Fine," Hunter said, "be that way."

Obsidian showed up. "Where's Blizz?" he asked, "I was going to help with wedding arrangements, namely by asking if she'd want to get married on the _New Ark_." "How should I know?" Hunter replied, angrily. _Are Hunter and Blizz mad at each other?_ Obsidian thought, _this does not bode well. The first part of the Apocalypse Prophecy is an unbreakable bond being broken, and there is no bond I know of stronger than that of Hunter and Blizz._

"What's wrong, Obsidian?" Essence asked, "You look worried." "Nothing something to eat won't fix," Obsidian lied, "you wanna head out to get some ice cream or something?" "Did you even have to ask?" Essence replied. The two of them headed out after Obsidian entered his human form.

* * *

Hunter: (Shudders) I never thought I'd see the day... 

Notme: What, Obsidian freaking out a little?

Hunter: No, Blizz and me being that mad at each other.

Blizz: Next Time: A New Enemy!

All: Till Then!!!!


	2. A New Enemy

Obsidian: This is where the story actually starts.

Shadow: Let's keep the intro short and sweet, then.

Ultimate: You're putting in better stuff, right Notme?

Notme: It's only chapter 2, gimme a break!

Hunter: Let's just get on with this already!

Shadow: What about the new stuff to be disclaimered?

Notme: I'll get to that later! Let's start already!

* * *

A New Enemy

That night, Hunter was tossing and turning in bed, due to having a recurring nightmare. He'd had this one for the past week or so.

(Dream Sequence)

_The ground was soaked with blood and energon, with corpses scattered everywhere. Upon closer inspection, they were the bodies of the Armada Alliance, Apocalypse Forces, Autobots, Decepticons, and Sonic Heroes. A figure was standing over the scene, a look of relish on his face. The observer goes in for a closer look, revealing that the figure was…_

(End dream sequence)

Hunter's alarm clock went off, waking him up. _I was so close to seeing his face,_ Hunter thought as he threw the clock out the window. "Hunter, get down here!" Essence yelled, "Time to head out for our vacation!" "As much as I'd love one," Hunter muttered, "Coming!" Hunter grabbed his suitcase and rushed downstairs.

"You did set your alarm, right?" Obsidian asked. "Of course I did," Hunter replied. "Then why did you oversleep, hmm?" Blizz asked rudely. _She _still_ hasn't gotten over that, _Hunter thought. "So," he said, "Where we going?" "I don't know," Umbros replied, "we need to pick somewhere that has a hotel that we, Sonic Heroes, and Light's group can all check into, and is peaceful."

"I got it!" Obsidian said, "Isle Delfino." "You mean that island near the Mushroom Kingdom?" Essence asked. "The very same," Obsidian replied, "They just expanded their hotel, so we can all go." "Why would I want to go to that dimension again?" Light asked. "There's an excellent view of the sunset on the beach the hotel is located on," Obsidian replied.

"Why would I be interested in a sunset?" Everyone amime-style fell when Light asked that. _Will he ever get it?_ Obsidian thought.

Obsidian led the group to where he landed the _New Ark_. Sonic Heroes were waiting, along with the Autobots, Darkness, Vanessa, and the GX gang. "Can we ship out already?" Jazz asked. Bumblebee nodded in agreement. "Everyone get onboard," Obsidian said, "we're off!"

(Over the ocean near Isle Delfino)

The _New Ark _appeared next to the Koopa Kruiser. Gregory noticed this and waved over. "Hey, guys!" he said, "you going to Isle Delfino too?" "Yep," Obsidian replied. "There's Gelato Beach. Let's set down there!"

Something hit the side of the _New Ark_ hard. Obsidian went to check it out, and it was a Koopa Troopa. "Are you okay?" Obsidian asked. "Better than okay," the Koopa replied, his eyes starting to glow bright red.

The clear blue sky suddenly turned dark, and the Koopa Troopa changed into a humanoid figure. He was totally silhouetted with red eyes and a red slit mouth. He attacked the ships, taking out their engines. "Ratchet," Obsidian yelled, "Can you get the engines back up?" "It'll take some time," Ratchet replied, "more than we have." "Brace for impact!" Obsidian and Bowser both yelled to everyone on their respective ships.

The ships crashed into Gelato Beach. Nobody was badly injured. "Who is that?" Shadow asked. The figure came down. "I am Void," he said, "God of Shadows." "You're going down," Shadow said as he charged in to attack. Void grabbed him and threw him into the water. "Autobots," Prime said, "charge!" The Autobots went to attack.

Void dodged all of Ironhide's shots, ripped off Ratchet's saw, knocked Jazz into the water, deflected all of Bumblebee's plasma blasts, and sent Landmine into the sand. Prime hit him with his proton blaster, but that only made him mad. Void grabbed Prime and tossed him at the heroes.

Silver used his telekinesis to catch Prime and set him down in front of him. Light and Obsidian entered Armor Mode and charged at Void, who not only dodged, but blasted the two of them away. "This guy's strong," Light said. "I say we try a new strategy," Obsidian added.

Hunter and Jaden both sent flames at Void, who gathered them up and sent them back. Shadow fired lightning at him, with a similar result. "What does it take to beat this guy?" Shadow asked after getting hit by his own attack.

"I have very little time to deal with you right now," Void said after all that, "I'll let you live for now, but I'll be back." He vanished into the darkness. "What now?" Sonic asked. "Now," Obsidian replied, "we make the best of our vacation."

They made their way to Serena Beach. The Hotel Delfino rose from the distance. It was now a few stories higher than when Mario had been here, and a little wider. "Looks like this'll be a fun vacation after all," Blizz said, "now if we could've left Hunter behind, it would be paradise." "Imagine what this beach would look like during sunset," Essence said, "we are on the western side of the island, so we get the best view of the sunset of anywhere here." Alexis and Vanessa both considered the possibilities of that.

Once they got into the hotel. The manager saw the size of the group. "Welcome to Hotel Delfino," he said, "If you don't mind my asking, are you all one group?" "Yes," Obsidian replied, "do you have enough rooms?" "Yes we do," the manager said, "I hope you enjoy your stay."

Sonic went over to get the room keys. "We need to divide the rooms," he said. "I say that boys room with boys and girls room with girls," Hunter suggested. "Okay," Obsidian said, taking the keys, "there are four beds per room, so everyone take a key."

The rooms are as follows:

Alexis, Jasmine, Mindy, and Vanessa

Amy, Julie, Cream, and Rouge (Cheese and Chocola are in this room as well)

Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow

Hunter, Obsidian, Umbros, and Hassleberry

Jaden, Light, Chazz, and Darkness

Syrus, Zane, Bastion, and Spirit

Blizz, Essence, and Scarlet

Gregory, Bowser, and Junior

Hunter examined the room. "This place is pretty nice," he said. "It's better than it was," Obsidian replied, "before, they had some problems with ghosts and such." The sun started to set. "I think that a walk on the beach right now would have been quite romantic," Hunter said, "I hate being single."

Sonic was hanging out in the lobby, when he saw the familiar faces of Link and Midna, along with a teenage girl that had to be the princess of Hyrule, Zelda. "We need two rooms," Link said. "No vacancy," the manager replied. "Hang on;" Sonic said as he ran over to Link, "you guys could room with us." "Who are you again?" Zelda asked. "Right," Sonic replied, "you didn't meet us when we were in Hyrule. The name's Sonic." "Oh," Zelda said, "the talking hedgehog Link told me about."

Sonic took them to the rooms that still had space. Midna elected to room with the Mobian girls, and went right to bed. "Why fall asleep now?" Amy asked, "It's not even eight yet." "It took a lot of energy to transport us here," Midna replied, "I need some rest."

The group decided to call it a day, and begin their vacation tomorrow.

(Elsewhere)

The _Nemesis_ appeared over the Mushroom Kingdom. "Why are we here again?" Rumble asked. "To find the artifacts that are on this world, of course," Starscream replied, "Decepticons, split up and search!" The Decepticons beamed down to various locations on the planet to search for items of power.

* * *

Shadow: Okay, I sense a battle coming up.

Sonic: Ya think?

Silver: Next Time: Trouble in Paradise.

Ultimate: Why did we go to a place in a Mario game?

Notme: Like I said in my forum, I'm doing an adaptation of my RP, and that was where we went first. Don't worry, once the Decepticons arrive, there'll be some chaos.

All: Till Then!


	3. Trouble in Paradise

Shadow: So, what's gonna happen in this chapter?

Notme: Just pe patient and read it!

Sonic: Wait, Link's here, which means...

Link: You better not...

Sonic, Shadow, and Silver: _(Sing "Seven ings in Hand")_

Link: AAAAAHHHHHGGGGG!!!!!

Cyclonus: Are we gonna be in this story?

Notme: I'll think about it.

* * *

Trouble in Paradise

With the sun starting to set, Obsidian noted that he really needed to start playing Cupid. He rushed to Essence. "Hey, Essence," he said, "you wanna help me in matchmaking?" "Sounds like a date," Essence said, "if you wanted to call it that." Obsidian held back the urge to blush. "I guess we could call it a date," he replied. The two of them looked at the scene. "We should hurry," Essence said, "we want to get the pairs together before the sun's gone."

Their first targets were the two boys too oblivious to notice that someone was in love with them. Obsidian went to find Jaden, while Essence handled finding Light. Obsidian came up to Jaden. "I heard there was a big duel-off on the beach soon," he said. "Really?" Jaden asked, "Sweet! See ya there!" He rushed to the beach. "One down," Obsidian said quietly, on his way to find Light.

Essence found Light in the buffet, eating as much as would fit on his plate in one trip. "Hey, Light," Essence said, "Obsidian wanted you on the beach. It's about planning our stops tomorrow." "Okay," Light said with his mouth full. He swallowed and rushed off. Essence took out her comlink. "Phase 1 complete," she said. "Alright," Obsidian replied on the other end, "time for Phase 2."

Obsidian walked over to Alexis. "I heard Jaden was on his way to the beach," he said, "and it is sunset." Alexis rushed for the beach after a few seconds of putting two and two together. "That was fast," Obsidian said.

Essence rushed over to Vanessa. "I have a feeling that Light's on the beach," she said. "Why would Light be on the beach?" Vanessa asked. "I don't know," Essence replied, "but it is sunset." Vanessa was no longer within earshot after Essence said "sunset". "Phase 2 complete," Essence said into the comlink. "Now to see how this turns out," Obsidian replied, "meet me at the beach."

Jaden arrived at the beach. "Hey," he said, "there's no duel-off here!" "And Obsidian's not here either," Light added. Alexis and Vanessa arrived on the beach and saw the two of them. "Fancy meeting you here," Alexis said.

Obsidian and Essence were watching from the drink stand. "This better work," Obsidian said, "I hate the fact that Light's always oblivious to the fact that the girl of his dreams is always right next to him." A certain Camaro was nearby. "Hey, Bumblebee," Essence said, "go get the mood going." Bumblebee drove down to the beach and started checking the songs he had recorded. He settled on "Before It's Too Late" by Goo Goo Dolls.

The four on the beach heard the song. "Who else gets the feeling Bumblebee's trying to tell us something?" Alexis asked. Jaden was still clueless, as was Light. He and Vanessa looked at each other. "Well," Vanessa asked, "you feel anything?" "I feel," Light replied, "Like doing something like this." He walked over to Vanessa. The two of them started into each other's eyes, and got ready.

A familiar F-15 flew overhead. Obsidian spat out the sip of his drink he just took. "You've got to be kidding me," he said, "Why did Starscream have to show up just when we were about to succeed?" The jet transformed. "Good to feel welcome," Starscream said, "Decepticons, ATTACK!!!!!" The rest of the Decepticons showed up.

Bumblebee cut off the song, transformed, and tackled Soundwave, who knocked him away. "Rumble, Frenzy, Ravage, Ratbat," Soundwave said, ejecting the cassettes he listed, "operation: extermination." Ratbat flew towards the hotel, Ravage charged at Bumblebee, and Rumble and Frenzy started at shake things up with their pistons.

Strangely enough, the Decepticon attack was what Obsidian needed to complete his plan for matchmaking, as Alexis and Vanessa fell towards their respective loves, and ended up accidentally kissing them. Jaden and Light both kissed back. If Bumblebee wasn't too busy dealing with Ravage to notice, he would have turned the song back on.

Obsidian and Essence charged into the battle. Obsidian started by sending an energy blast at Blittzwing, who dodged, transformed into his tank mode, and fired back. Obsidian deflected the laser blast and charged at Blitzwing. Essence threw a dagger at Starscream and rushed towards Astrotrain. Starscream was about to fire his laser at Essence, but the dagger went into the barrel, causing the null-ray to explode.

"Time for our newest recruits," Starscream said, "Coneheads, attack!" A trio of modified F-15s flew in and transformed. They looked like seekers, except that two of them had their wings on their legs, and they all had their jet-mode nose cones on their heads. "Ramjet, reporting," the white one said. "Dirge, present," the blue one added. "Trust, ready for action," the red one finished. "I didn't say 'roll call', you idiots," Starscream told them, "I said ATTACK!!!!!! You may be Seekers, but I think the name Coneheads, no, Blockheads, fits you better!"

Dirge fired at Light, who avoided the attack, knocked Dirge into the juice bar, and threw multiple Light Forces at him. Dirge's optics went blank, indicating that he was offline. Ramjet tackled Obsidian, who slashed off the Decepticon's wing with Lightbringer. "Why just charge in recklessly when you have large guns attached to your arms?" Obsidian asked. "I'm one for ramming," Ramjet replied, "why do you think I was named Ramjet?"

_Nothing here that would make a particularly good Autobot_, Prime thought, as he looked around while holding the Allspark. An F-22 flew in and fired on the Autobot leader, causing him to drop the cube. "Is that our dimension's Starscream?" Ironhide asked. Hunter rushed over to them. "No," he said, "it's much worse than that. It's War Machine." The jet transformed into War Machine and grabbed the Allspark. "Now to return it to Maxi-AAARRRGGGHHH!!!!" Hunter had sent a fireball at War Machine. "It's time to end this," he said. "I most certainly agree," War Machine replied, firing missiles at Hunter. Hunter dodged and drew Flamebreaker.

Sonic came out and saw what was going on. "We finally get our big vacation," he said, "and what happens? The Decpeticons and the Forces crash the party!" He noticed Ratbat headed his way, and hit him with a powerful spindash. Ratbat crashed into the ground and went into stasis-lock. Sonic sped away towards Starscream.

Hunter and War Machine charged at each other. They inflicted heavy wounds on each other. "You still haven't let it go, have you?" War Machine asked. "Why would I let it go?" Hunter replied, "You killed my mother, and my friends in that town!" Hunter's irises started glowing bright red. He charged at War Machine once more, after igniting Flamebreaker.

_Why does Hunter's aura seem to have changed?_ Obsidian thought, _oh no, it can't be!_

Hunter slashed War Machine with Flamebreaker, cutting off his arm. War Machine retaliated by throwing a knife at Hunter with his remaining arm, but he missed. Hunter then moved in to cleave War Machine's head off. "Hunter, no!" Blizz shouted. Hunter turned to face Blizz. "You stay out of this," he said coldly, "it's between me and War Machine." Obsidian grabbed Hunter and warped him away from War Machine. "You kill him," he said, "and you're no better than he was on that day." Hunter looked away. "I'm not interested in that," he replied, "I want to see War Machine pay for what he did." "Get a hold of yourself," Blizz said, "you've never been that violent towards him before. What's gotten into you?"

Hunter's eyes returned to normal. "I don't know," he said. Obsidian scanned Hunter's heart. _What the!?_ he thought, _since when was there that much darkness in Hunter's heart?_

Meanwhile, the rest of them had put the Decepticons on the defensive. "Fall back," Starscream ordered. The other Decepticons followed the order without question. Astrotrain transformed into his shuttle mode, which the rest of them quickly got into, and blasted off for somewhere to regroup. War Machine also took this opportunity to retreat, abandoning the Allspark.

Obsidian noticed that the beach was a wreck, and fixed it. "Okay," he said, "Tomorrow, we're headed for Pinna Park." Everyone headed back into the hotel to get some much-needed sleep.

* * *

Link: Thank Farore, they stopped singing!

Sonic: Not Quite. We just went to hear the new version.

Link: New version?

Silver: Yep.

Sonic, Shadow, and Silver: _(Start singing the Crush 40 version of "Seven Rings in Hand")_

Link: Nice remix.

All: _(Jawdrop)_

Demolishor: Next Time: To New York!

All: Till Then!!!


	4. Coming of the Devils

Obsidian: About time you got this chapter up.

Notme: Shaddup!

Sonic: Oh, this chapter will be the first one with any of Krystal's characters, owned by her, of course, and characters from Bionicle, which is owned by Lego.

Ultimate: Let's just start already!

* * *

Coming of the Devils

Hunter found it hard to sleep, with the nightmare most likely going to occur again. He finally decided that the necessity of sleep was more pressing than his fear of what the dream could mean.

(Dream Sequence)

_Hunter was holding a lifeless Blizz alongside Zane, a large wound in his sister's chest. A figure was hunting down Hunter's friends and killing them. First Shadow, then Sonic and Tails, then the Autobots. The figure then moved to kill Vanessa. Light tried to intervene, but the figure just turned his sword around and ran Light through instead._

_Obsidian charged at the figure, but ended up getting blasted in the chest and sent into a building. Essence threw the broken shards of some masks on the ground at the figure, only to get them back, right in the chest. Hunter got up, tired of seeing his friends and family die like this, and charged at the figure. When he got in close, he saw that it was…himself._

(End Dream Sequence)

Hunter woke up in a fright. "What's wrong, Hunter?" Obsidian asked. "Just a dream," Hunter said, "a horrible dream."

(That morning)

Amy and Cream woke up from a loud THUD in the room next door. "What was that?" Cream asked, a little scared from the sound. "I don't know," Amy said, "I'll go check it out." She quietly snuck into the hall, careful not to wake up Julie, Rouge, or Midna.

When she looked around, she saw two figures, one in red armor, and another in white. "This is the last time I let our sister choose where we go," the red one said, "This place's volcano is way too small, especially when compared to the Mangai." "Easy, Tahu," the white one said, "I'm just as thrilled with this place as you are, but you don't see me stomping on the ground and waking the other guests." "Yes," Amy said, "Please don't wake the other guests." "Sorry," the red figure said, "did I wake you?"

Obsidian walked out of his room, a little tired. He hadn't gotten back to sleep after Hunter told him about his dream. He saw the two figures near Amy. "Wow," he said, "I didn't think I'd see any Toa here." "You've heard of Toa?" the white figure asked. "I've seen you guys before from afar," Obsidian replied, "Oh, the name's Obsidian by the way." "I'm Tahu," the red figure said, "and this is Kopaka." "Charmed, I'm sure," Kopaka said. "He's kind of a lone wolf," Tahu added. "I gathered that much," Obsidian said. "I'm Amy Rose," Amy told the two Toa, "how many of you are there?" "Thirteen," Tahu said, "seven Toa, and six Turaga." "What's a Turaga?" Amy asked. "They're the elders of our island," Kopaka replied.

"I believe the legends of our world are ours to tell," said a venerable-looking figure not unlike a Toa, in green armor, "I am Turaga Matau, by the way. Allow me to telltale you of our homerealm, and of the Bionicle." He went on for an hour telling tales of the Makuta, the heroism of the Toa, and the return to Metru Nui, their home island. During the story, the rest of the gang came in to listen. Another Turaga, this one clad in red and orange, came in at the end.

"Now that the tale of the Toa Mata is told," he said, "Allow me, Turaga Vakama, to tell you of their predecessors, the Toa Metru." He told them of a hero, Toa Lhikan, who gave his power to six Matoran: Nokama, Onewa, Matau, Whenua, Nuju, and Vakama, how the six of them became Toa, guardians of the city of Metru Nui, the quest for the Great Disks, their battle with Makuta, the shadow of the Visorak, and the finding of the island of Mata Nui. The whole thing took about an hour and a half, after which most of the gang had either fallen asleep or gone to get breakfast. "How did you attract all of them?" Vakama asked Matau. "I guess I just tell the stories of the Toa-Heroes better," Matau replied.

(Pinna Park)

Shadow looked around. The park had been closed for the day due to damage, but was still in a good enough condition for a battle. "Hey," he said, "anyone game for a fight?" "I am," Gregory replied. The Toa had followed the group to the amusement park, and most just wanted to watch. Tahu, on the other had, went up and volunteered to engage them.

Shadow made the first move, spindashing into the Toa of Fire. Tahu just activated his Mask of Shielding, and Shadow bounced off the barrier and came back from behind, where Tahu was unprotected. Gregory took a deep breath, and exhaled a stream of fire at the two of them. Shadow jumped onto the roller coaster, and Tahu let himself get bathed in the flames. "Ah," he said, "I just love the dry heat from fire. It's much better than being sticky all the time."

The fun of this battle was short-lived, though, as the familiar form of Void appeared overhead. Shadow switched the focus of his attacks to the Shadow God, who simply let them hit, doing nothing. Hunter grabbed Flamebreaker and leapt at Void, only to be batted away. "Is that the best you've got?" Void asked. "Not even close," Hunter replied, entering Armor Mode and trying again, this time landing a blow.

The green-clad Toa was using all of this to build up a large tornado unnoticed, which he sent in Void's direction. Shadow and Hunter got out of there as it hit. Void just laughed, until the tornado started picking up strength. "That's enough, Lewa," Tahu called back. "I stopped powering the wind-twister when I release-freed it," Lewa replied. A figure was standing atop the Ferris wheel, wearing a black trenchcoat and a matching fedora hat.

Shadow leapt from ride to ride to get to him. "I've never seen you before," Shadow said, "What's your name?" "Benji," the man said, "Benji Rambaldi Heart." "Well, Benji," Shadow said, "this really isn't your fight." "I'm just here because I thought Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends would help me out in finding my half-sister."

Void escaped the tornado and aimed a blast of darkness at Lewa. The Toa of Air leapt out of the way, but that left the Turaga in the wake of the blast. The gold-clad Toa fired a bolt of light to counter the blast, but the energy from the two hitting had an unexpected side effect. The Turaga seemed to be growing to the height of a Toa, the items they were using as walking sticks morphing into weapons, and their masks becoming less regal in appearance.

"What has happened to us?" Vakama asked, in a more youthful voice than before. "I'll tell you what happened," Matau said, "We've become Toa-Heroes again!" "How can that be?" Nokama asked, "We used up our Toa Energy long ago, reviving the Matoran." "Don't look a gift Rahi in the mouth, sister," Whenua replied.

Vakama loaded a disk into his launcher and fired it at Void, who deflected it with a wave of darkness. The disk returned to Vakama. "Glad I used an Onu-Metru disk," he said. The disk was a distraction, as Sonic had gone Super and charged at Void from behind, landing the first real blow on him.

"You shall pay for that," Void said, as he sent a bolt of darkness at Sonic, who dodged. The bolt kept going, headed for Blizz. She was struck right in the chest and fell over, unconscious. "Blizz!" Hunter yelled, his eyes starting to glow bright red again. "You shall pay for that, Void," he said, "pay dearly." He charged at Void with a fury seen only in his previous battle with War. Void was unmoved by the threat or the rage, and swatted Hunter away with ease. "You really must control your temper," he said. "I don't need lectures from you," Hunter said, "or anyone else for that matter!"

Starscream flew in and transformed behind Void. "My lord," he said, "we have the artifact known as the Kanohi Vahi." "Excellent," Void replied, "I shall leave you now." He and Starscream both vanished.

Hunter went over to Blizz. He knelt over her. "Good," he said, "she's still alive." "That blast was meant to kill a Mobian," Obsidian said, "it was nowhere near the power needed to kill an Ultimate."

"Did I hear that big plane thing correctly when he said he had the Kanohi Vahi?" Vakama asked. "Yeah, why?" Light replied. "The Kanohi Vahi is the Mask of Time," Vakama said, "the most powerful mask ever created." "We should leave Hunter and Blizz alone, guys," Obsidian said. He warped everyone else back to the hotel.

(Hotel Delfino)

"Why did we just leave Hunter and Blizz there?" Shadow asked. "They need some time to talk to each other," Obsidian replied, "one-on-one" "May I interrupt?" Benji asked. "Go right ahead," Obsidian said, "why'd you want Sonic and his friends?" "I wanted their help to rescue my half-sister," Benji said, "Marina K. Thompson. She's been kidnapped by someone you guys might have heard of." "Who?" Sonic asked. "Ever heard of Freddy Krueger?" Benji replied, "though this isn't the exact same as the one from the movies, he's a Dream Demon, like me."

(Back at Pinna Park)

Hunter healed Blizz. She woke up immediately afterwards. "Where is everyone else?" she asked. "Obsidian took them back to the hotel," Hunter said, "so we could talk alone." Hunter felt something dark in his heart move closer to the surface. "Blizz," he said, "I want you to get back to the hotel and get Obsidian."

"Why?"

"Just go!" Hunter said, his voice starting to change. "I'm worried about you, bro," Blizz said. "Listen to me," Hunter replied, "something's trying to take over my mind. I don't know how long I can keep it at bay, and I don't want you near me when I can't anymore." "Alright," Blizz said, "I'll go get Obsidian." She used the portal Obsidian left for them for when they were done to get back to the hotel lobby.

"Blizz?" Zane asked, "where's Hunter?" "He sent be to get Obsidian," Blizz replied, "where is he?" "Right behind you," Obsidian said, "what's wrong with Hunter?" "He says something's taking over his mind," Blizz continued, "and he doesn't want it to hurt anyone." _Oh no,_ Obsidian thought, _I was afraid of this._ "Take me to him," he said.

((Play "This Moment" by Disturbed))

"Too laaaate," Hunter said, in a truly demonic voice, as he came through the portal. Blizz turned around and saw that Hunter's eyes were now totally red, except for black irises. "Hunter, what's wrong?" she asked. "Hunter has left the building," he replied, "You're addressing none other than Damien Drake." "Damien," Obsidian said, "the name of the ancient Devil Dimensional. Is that you?" "The very same," Damien replied.

He drew Flamebreaker and charged at Blizz. "Now for you to pay the penalty for taking too long!" He stopped just short of actually stabbing her. "What's going on?" he said, "why can't I kill you!?" "The bond Hunter and I share is so strong," Blizz replied, "that you can't hurt me while you're using his body." "Good to know," Damien said, "but your friends lack that kind of protection." He fired a blast of darkness at Tahu, who's Mask of Shielding was overwhelmed quite easily. "You okay?" Shadow asked. "I'll be fine," The Toa of Fire replied.

Damien charged at Light next, who blocked with his own sword. "Come on," Damien said, "let your darker side come out and play." _I can't do that,_ Light thought, _the damage Demon could do, it would be…_ Damien knocked Light away with ease. "You're too weak," he said, "you care too much about the people here, and that will keep you from giving it your all." Light laughed evilly, in a demonic voice. "You're right," he said, "but Light isn't your opponent anymore." "It's been a while hasn't it, Demon?" Damien asked.

The two of them gathered an insane amount of power. "We have to leave, now!" Blizz yelled. Obsidian quickly sensed around for the Autobots and anyone else on the planet that was here with them or anyone that one of the other heroes knew well, and warped all of them to New York City.

Damien and Demon released all the energy in a blast that totally destroyed the planet.

(New York)

"Why did we just leave?" Gregory asked, "we left everyone that I cared about there, other than Scarlet and my family." "I wouldn't be so sure," said a sweet female voice. Gregory turned to see that it belonged to the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom, Peach Toadstool. The Toads and the Mario Brothers were there as well, along with Princess Daisy. "I warped everyone we cared about from the entire planet," Obsidian said, "I knew that those two wouldn't be satisfied with just the island."

* * *

Ultimate: What was the point of blowing up that wretched planet if you were going to save all the most important of the appalling characters from those games?

Notme: I happen to _like_ Mario games, thank you very much.

Cyclonus: Are you guys going to the Armada universe again?

Obsidian: That could be where we are right now. Who knows?

Sonic: Next Time: a defector from this dimension's Decepticons, rescuing Marina, and a huge battle with the two devils.

Cyclonus: HA! I knew it!

All: Till Then!


	5. Battle Royale Pt 1

Obsidian: This chapter is when things start to get interesting.

Notme: Yep.

Shadow: Krystal owns Marina, and Notme owns Mara.

Sonic: Should we do a joke?

Silver: Do we need one?

Obsidian: Yes, we need one.

Mario: Hello!

Ultimate: What's he doing here!? (Kicks Mario in the crotch)

Mario: THERE GOES THE CHACE AT HAVING KIDS!!

All except Mario: On with the show!

* * *

Battle Royale Pt 1

"Okay," Obsidian said, "we need to start looking for Marina. I sensed that this was where we'd have our best chance." "Then what are we waiting for?" Tahu asked impatiently, "We need to get a move on if we want to rescue her and then recover the stolen Vahi."

"Why be in such a hurry, Toa?" said a female voice, "you're not thinking about leaving just yet, are you? The fun has yet to begin." A female figure, in black and blue armor resembling that of a Toa, and wearing a Mask of Shadows appeared behind Tahu. "Who are you?" Takanuva, the gold-clad Toa of Light, asked. "You could say I'm your worst enemy, Toa of Light," the figure replied, "I am Mara, daughter of the Makuta!" She drew her weapon, the Shadow Scythe, and charged at Takanuva. The Toa of Light dodged and readied his Staff of Light. "It won't be that easy to beat me," he said. "I'm just here to see what you're made of," Mara replied, as she sent blasts of darkness at Takanuva. He dodged one, but was then hit by another.

Takanuva then sent bolts of light at Mara, who dodged all of them. Takanuva then hit her mid-jump with another bolt. Mara landed hard on the ground. "I'd have to say I'm impressed," she said, getting up and brushing herself off, "you're not bad, for a Toa." "I could say the same about you," Takanuva replied.

"Come on, guys," Benji said, "We need to get a move on!" "I'll be seeing you, Toa," Mara said, "make sure to watch yourself." She leapt into a dark alley and vanished into the shadows. "I'd say we head for the tallest points in the city," Obsidian said, and then he backed off to Essence and continued in a whisper. "Those are the most likely places to hold someone, and they could double as good places for plan B to launch from."

The first place they checked was the Empire State Building. "So," Lewa said to Obsidian, "who will high-climb this tower?" "Do I look like an ape?" Obsidian replied. "Listen, brother," Pohatu, the brown-armored Toa of Stone, said, "How about we use your Miru Nuva to get up there?" "Good idea," Lewa replied, as he activated his mask power. All the heroes near him were lifted up by the mask's levitation power.

They quickly got almost to the top, when Vakama leapt onto the side of the building. "I'll use my Huna to get close," he said, "you guys wait for the signal." He activated his mask, and turned invisible, but his shadow was still there. "I'll, uh, throw something down when it's time," he said.

Vakama climbed up onto the top of the Empire State Building, when he saw a girl, with long, bluish-white hair in a white shirt and bell-bottom jeans, chained to the building, with the unmistakable Freddy Krueger nearby. _What happened to that man's face?_ The Toa of Fire thought. He had very little time to contemplate this, as a black jet opened fire on them. Vakama's concentration was broken, and he was no longer invisible. Freddy looked at the Toa and the jet. "This won't take long, my love," he said, leaping onto the jet, "Alright, come out of there! Who's flying this thing?" "Nobody," the jet said, "Thrust, TRANSFORM!!" The jet transformed into a robot with a squid-like head.

"Oh great," Sonic said, "Isn't that Squid-head, from another group of Decepticons?" "THE NAME'S THRUST, YOU STUPID FLESHLING!!" Trust shouted, "I put up with it when Megatron says it, but not the enemy!" "I'll handle this one," Takanuva said, blasting Thrust with his staff. Thrust regained his senses and looked at his attacker. "You're the one Megatron sent me after," he said, "the Toa wearing the Mask of Light." He pulled his blaster out to return fire, but something slashed the barrel off.

The culprit was a familiar red and white Transformer: this universe's Starscream. His Decepticon Insignias had been painted over with a red "X". "You're not getting that mask," he said, "not while I function." "About that," said a voice from above, as a white thing that could vaguely be called a jet flew in, "Megatron: TRANSFORM!!" The jet transformed. "You had a lot of nerve leaving the Decepticons, Starscream," Megatron continued, "that was a deadly mistake." He saw the other heroes. "Oh, I see you've found the ones that took my secret weapon. I'd like it back now." "What's he talking about?" Matau asked. "The Chaos Emerald would be my guess," Obsidian replied. "And what would a Chaos Emerald be?"

Megatron aimed and fired his shoulder cannons at the heroes, causing Lewa to lose concentration on using his mask power. Everyone started to plummet to the ground. Lewa tucked his two Air Katana behind his arms and glided downward. Matau attached his Aero Cutters to his back and did the same. The other Toa used their tools to grab onto the side of the building. Obsidian and Blizz spread their wings and grabbed whoever was closest to them. Anyone else grabbed onto whoever was closest and could fly or was holding onto the building.

Starscream cut the girl free. "Are you okay?" he asked. "Y-yeah," the girl replied, "I'm Marina, by the way." "You can call me Starscream," the former Decepticon replied. Benji ran over to Marina and hugged her. "I'm glad you're safe," he said. A helicopter flew in and transformed behind them. "HAHAHAHAHA!!" he said, "she won't be for long!" Cyclonus started going trigger-happy, either hitting his fellow Decepticons or nothing at all more often than his intended targets. "Watch it!" Thrust yelled at his comrade.

The Forces were watching the battle. "Should we get involved and steal the artifacts?" Anubis asked. "Not yet," Maximus replied, "we wait until they're too weak to fight us off." "Sounds like a plan," said the demonic voice of Damien. "Too bad you're not going to be the ones pulling it off," Demon added. The two of them appeared behind the Forces. "L-Lopez?" Maximus asked. "And Drake?" War added. "Almost," Demon said, "we're just the darker halves of them."

Damien launched an orb of dark fire at War Machine, who dodged. Damien moved his hand, and the orb doubled back and went to War again. War flew off trying to outrun it, but Damien kept it on its path, and it soon overcame War and hit him in the back.

Shadow spindashed into Megatron, who blocked it with his hand. "Is that all you've got?" the Decepticon leader asked. "Not at all," Shadow replied, as an electrified aura surrounded him. He soon entered his Darkspines form. Shadow darted around Megatron and fired lightning at his backpack of wings and a nosecone. "I see you opted for the kibble-heavy form," he said. "You'll pay for that remark!" Megatron yelled as he aimed the turret of the small tank on his arm at Shadow and fired. Shadow batted the blast away and sent another volley of lightning his opponent's way. Energon spurted from Megatron's arm as everything past the elbow was cleaved clean off.

On the ground, Tahu and Onua were battling Demonishor. The Decepticon fired his laser at the two Toa, only for them to be blocked by Tahu engaging his Hau Nuva. A scythe came from behind and cleaved Demolishor's leg off, with energon pouring from the wound. As he fell over, Hydra came into view, energon staining her scythe. She charged at the two of them, but crashed into a wall of earth that Onua suddenly brought into existence.

Sonic was running alongside Thrust, and dodging laser and missile fire. "You gotta be faster than that," he said, before crashing into a massive leg. A large, purple and black Transformer was standing there. He opened fire on the Autobots. "Tidal Wave, Tidal Wave," the massive figure chanted.

Prime transformed and blocked the initial volley from Tidal Wave. Ironhide then returned fire. Tidal Wave took the fire with little reaction, and just kept firing away. Something hit Tidal Wave in the back, causing him to fall over. Anubis was behind him, in his wolf form. All the Autobots opened fire on him. "Stupid Transformers," he said, "you can't hurt an Ultimate." "They can't," Darkness said from right behind Anubis, "but I can." He slashed Anubis in the chest, blood slowly coming from the wound.

Megatron punched Shadow with his remaining hand, sending him through a building. Shadow got up and prepared to attack again, when something landed on him. When he looked up, he saw that it was what was left of War Machine. "What happened to him?" he asked. "I did," Damien replied, appearing right behind Shadow. He kicked Shadow through a few buildings, and then turned his attention to Megatron. "You think that scares me?" Megatron said, "I've seen much stronger foes." "I haven't even warmed up yet," Damien replied, "perhaps you might be able to help me with that."

Damien then clutched his heart in pain. Hunter was fighting his way back to the surface. "Oh no, you don't," Damien said, filling his body with darkness to hold Hunter's spirit back. Megatron used this opportunity to charge in for an attack, but before he got too far, something hit him in the chest. There was a gaping hole through his chest and back. Megatron then plummeted to the ground, dead. "You're next, Shadow," Damien said after admiring his work. He charged at Shadow, his sword in hand. Blizz got in his way, and reflexes stopped Flamebreaker mere millimeters from her chest. "I'm getting annoyed with the pathetic bond you share with my weaker half," Damien said, "Nothing should be able to hold me back from killing anyone!"

Umbros saw Damien near Blizz, and put his index fingers together. Damien felt something in his heart. Umbros parted his fingers, and Damien clutched his chest, feeling as if his heart was being ripped in half. Damien was slowly pulled out from Hunter's body, and his clothes changed. He was now wearing the same clothes as Dark Zane, in addition to a black visor. Hunter's clothes were also different. He was now wearing blue jeans, a white t-shirt, red fingerless gloves, and a leather jacket with red flames on it. His boots matched his jacket. Damien laughed evilly. "Do you have _any_ idea what you've just done?" Obsidian asked Umbros. "I freed my son from the darkness controlling him," Umbros replied. "I know," Obsidian said, "but in doing so, you've unleashed the most powerful evil the Dimensionals have ever known. Darkstone is a gnat compared to Damien."

Demon took the initiative to attack the GX gang and Light's friends. Something, however, was holding him back. "Enough, Lopez," he said, "I'm taking over the show now!" He grabbed his chest, and pulled Light out of himself, tossing him aside. Demon then went on to attack. Starscream got in his way. "You're going no farther," he said. "I will once I kill you," Demon replied. He went to stab Starscream in the chest, when he was hit from behind by a wave of cold. Kopaka and Nuju both used their power to try to freeze him solid, but failed. "You're lucky I have a previous engagement," Demon said, before warping away.

"That's my cue to leave as well," Damien said, "I'll be back to-" Something pierced his back and went through his heart. He looked down, and saw that it was an icicle. He grabbed it and pulled. It came out quite quickly. Everyone was shocked, especially Blizz, because she had thrown it. "A foolish attempt," he said, "but I'm feeling like a good sport today, so I'll give this back!" He threw it at Blizz. It hit her in the chest, impaling her.

Hunter and Zane rushed over and caught her as she fell over. She weakly grabbed at Hunter's collar and pulled him down lower. "Hunter," she said, "I'm sorry about the way I acted earlier. I was a jerk." "I already forgave you," Hunter said, not even trying to hold back his tears, "and I was kind of a jerk too." All the heroes were now gathered around the three of them. Blizz smiled. Her grip loosened, and her hand fell to the ground. The light then left her eyes, which Hunter then closed.

Zane grabbed the collar of Hunter's shirt. "Why didn't you heal her!?" he asked, tears running down has face as well. "I couldn't," Hunter replied, "I can't heal a fatal wound." "My power's no good either," Obsidian said, "That icicle was in contact with Damien long enough that it gained his aura. I can only revive someone if they were killed by something of equal or lesser power than me."

"All isn't lost," said a voice, as The One (AKA Notme) appeared before them. "I could revive her, but Damien can just kill her again just as easily. Hunter, Zane, take her and come with me." He opened a portal, which the three of them, Blizz's body in tow.

(The ARK)

"Why are we here?" Hunter asked. "The Space Colony ARK has something we need," Notme replied. He used his powers to open a hidden door, behind which was a single cryogenic pod. "How the (clang) is that going to help?" Hunter said, "She's already dead!" "Yes, her heart is no longer beating," Notme said, "but she still has her aura clinging to her."

Footsteps were heard. They turned around to see Kopaka behind them. "I wanted to see how this plays out," he said, "I don't need my Akaku to know that that girl has more of a role to play in this battle." "And you'd be right," Notme replied, as he activated the pod. It came open slowly. "Quickly," Notme said, "put her in. Her aura's fading!" Huner quickly obeyed. The pod closed, and the process of freezing began.

"Come," Notme said, "we need to get back quickly." "I'll stay behind," Kopaka said, "and keep an eye on Blizz." "Thank you," Hunter said, "here." He tossed the Toa of Ice a communicator. "I want to know the second something changes, if anything does." Notme, Hunter, and Zane all left the ARK, headed back to New York.

* * *

Blizz: Why did I have to die?

Shadow: Sounds like you're gonna get brought back to life.

Blizz: I'd better!

Sonic: Next time: The Quest for the Artifacts begins!

All: Till Then!


	6. Who Wants to Lead the Decepticons

Blizz: Okay, I hope this chapter explains a way to bring me back.

Notme: You won't let go of the fact that I kiiled you off, will you?

Blizz: Nope.

Hunter: Besides, I think I'm getting the spotlight here.

Obsidian: Let's get a move on!

Ultimate: I agree with him.

Notme: Alright! We'll start already!

* * *

Who Wants to Lead the Decepticons?

Hunter felt that this day had gone from bad to worse. What started as a pleasant play-fight had ended with him losing his sister. He was truly a wreck. "Cheer up, Hunter," Obsidian said, "we're not going to let any of this keep us down." Hunter grabbed Obsidian by the throat. "Cheer up?" he said, "my sister just _died _right in front of me, and her fiancé, and you expect me to cheer up!? You're being way too insensitive right now!" "No doubt Zane is same-hearted on this issue," Lewa said. "Don't worry, Hunter," Obsidian said, "I was just saying that we won't forget what Damien did to Blizz, but we'll use it to stay motivated on stopping him, rather than keep us down." You know what," Hunter said, "you're right. Blizz wouldn't want me to stay depressed about her death. Besides, if Notme and Kopaka were right, she's not going to stay dead for long."

Midna heard what Hunter just said. She was impressed with how quickly he bounced back after what just happened. It reminded her of how quickly she recovered from when she had been transformed into her imp form.

Obsidian summoned the _New Ark_ and beckoned that they all get inside. "Where are we going?" Essence asked. "Cybertron," Obsidian replied, "this dimension's Cybertron. The Autobots will allow us to regroup there, until everyone's ready to move on and begin the search for anything that Void would want."

(Cybertron)

The Decepticons had already gotten home. "Now for the first order of business," Cyclonus said, "who's gonna be Megatron's replacement." "Tidal Wave," Tidal Wave suggested. "And how good of a leader would you be?" Thrust asked. "Tidal Wave," Tidal wave replied. "My point exactly. How about me?" "Not likely," Cyclonus said after a bout of laughter.

Dirge flew in and transformed. "There's always me," he said. "What do you think?" Demolishor asked Cyclonus. "He's not gonna last long," Cyclonus replied, "So we'd have to go through this again in a cycle or two." "I vote for myself." Said a Transformer closely resembling Shockwave, except he didn't just have a laser cannon for a hand, he had one for an _arm!_

"What makes you think you can lead us, Shockblast?" Thrust asked. Shockblast aimed his arm cannon in some random direction and fired.

"You killed Dirge!" Cyclonus yelled. "Your point being?" Shockblast asked. "You're too trigger-happy," Starscream said as he appeared, "you'd kill half the Decepticons before they actually got into a battle. I served under Megatron the longest, so I'd be the best leader of any of us." "Fine then," Shockblast said, "let's see you put your credits where your voice transmitter is!"

He fired at Starscream, who simply stepped aside. Shockblast kept firing, and Starscream kept sidestepping the blasts until Shockblast ran out of energon. He then knocked Shockblast over and put his sword to his chest.

"You see," Starscream said, "you spend too much time shooting. You never take time to strategize. I'm different. Does anyone else doubt my capabilities as leader?"

"I do," said a shrill voice, as the Starscream from Sonic's dimension appeared, in the cape and crown of the Decepticon Emperor of Destruction. "You're not even from this universe," the **Starscream** from this dimension said, "and therefore unfit to be leader!" (If the counterpart of a character is present, whichever of them came later will be indicated with **bold text**)

(Play "Numb" by Linkin Park)

"We shall see," Starscream replied, aiming his null-rays at his counterpart. "You want to challenge me with beams," the ex-Decepticon said, "I'll take you up on that!" Swindle attached to his partner's back, activating **Starscream's **Proton Cannons. The two Starscreams fired, and the one native to this universe quickly showed his superiority. The caped Starscream was reduced to space dust within seconds, his immortal spark flying into the distance. The crown flew into Starscream's hands. He lifted it to eye level, and crushed it.

"The title of Emperor of Destruction is no longer valid," he said, "from now on; we are allies of the Autobots."

"OUTRAGEOUS!!"

"A VILE CONCEPT!!"

"TIDAL WAVE!!"

"HOW DARE YOU SUGGEST THAT!?"

"Not a bad idea, actually."

Everyone turned to look at the person that said that: Obsidian. "Think about it," he said, "would you rather bet commended for services to the Autobots, or flattened for fighting them?" The Decepticons thought about this. "You know what," Cyclonus said, "he's right. All we ever got for fighting the Autobots was damage, damage, and even more damage from Megatron when we lost." "And that is why I suggest we join the Autobots," Starscream added, "Megatron punished us for failure, while Optimus at least give his men credit for trying."

"I'm glad you feel that way, Starscream," said this universe's Optimus Prime, "because I'd be glad to have the war over, and every Transformer flying the same banner." "I would be honored to lead beside you, Optimus," Starscream replied. "I'll have to come up with some sort of reward for you, Obsidian," Optimus said, "Your last visit was what inspired Starscream to quit the Decepticons." Hot Shot and Jetfire came in, with Hot Shot carrying something in his hand. Obsidian went over to see what it was, and saw that it was a golden mask, the image of a humanoid figure with its arms spread on it. "What kind of mask is this?" he asked. "We thought you'd be able to tell us," Optimus replied.

Takanuva looked at the mask. "I can tell you what that is," he said, "It's the Kanohi Ignika, the Mask of Life." "How in the world did a mask from your universe make it to Cybertron?" Obsidian asked. "I have no idea," Takanuva replied. "If you want it," Optimus said, "it's yours."

"I'll take that," said the familiar voice of Mara, as she appeared and grabbed the mask. She then ran off as fast as she could. "I'll take care of her," Takanuva said, giving chase.

He finally caught up with her when she stopped to rest. "Hand over that mask," he said. "You'll have to take it from me," Mara replied.

Takanuva tried to hit Mara with a blast of light, but she dodged. Mara retaliated with a surge of electricity. She hit the Toa of Light dead on, causing him to fall to his knees. "I said I liked your skills," she said, "but that doesn't mean I'd go easy on you next time we met." She fired again, this time knocking her opponent's mask off. Takanuva reverted to the form of a red humanoid, about the size of a child, with a blue and red mask.

Mara saw what happened. "Wait," she said, "you're that Matoran, the one that helped me. Takua, isn't it?" "I don't remember helping you," Takua replied, "I don't remember much from before I awoke on Mata Nui." "I'll refresh your memory, then," Mara said…

(Flashback)

_Mara was on an important quest for her father. She was to find the Mask of Light while the Toa Metru were occupied with locating the Great Disks. She had expected a challenge, but she didn't expect what happened._

_She quickly found the chamber the mask was supposed to be in, but it was guarded by a powerful creature, which looked like a huge crab. When she saw it, she tried to sneak past it. She failed, and the creature grabbed her and threw her across the hall. "I'm getting that mask," she said, "and no stupid Rahi is gonna stop me!" Mara fired a blast of electricity at the creature, which shrugged it off and came charging. It grabbed Mara in its claws and began to crush her. She yelled out in pain._

_Takua was on his way to the shop he owned when he heard the yells. He went to investigate. He saw the crab crushing Mara. "Do you need help?" he asked. "I usually work alone," Mara replied, "but this time I wouldn't say no. How can you help, anyway?" "I have a few Weaken disks," Takua said, "I could hit that thing with them so you can escape." "Do it!" Mara replied, with fear for her life in her voice._

_Takua took out his disk launcher and loaded one of his Weaken Disks. He fired it at the crab. It was weakened, but not to the extent for Mara to be able to break free. He fired another. Mara was able to push the pincers apart a little, but not enough. "This is my last one," Takua said as he fired the third disk. It still wasn't enough. He had gathered the crab's attention, and it dropped Mara in favor of Takua. The Matoran started running as fast as he could._

_Mara started to walk to the gate leading to the Mask of Light, but she stopped. _That Matoran is risking his life for me, _she thought to herself, _and I'm gonna turn the other way and finish my mission?

_The crab had cornered Takua "This is it," he said, "I'm dead, I just know it!" Something hit the crab from behind. Mara had fired a blast of lightning at it. The creature shrieked in pain and turned to Mara. "Get out of here," she told Takua. Takua didn't leave, but he did pull out a small blade. "I'm not afraid of this thing," he said. _

_The creature advanced to Mara, who stood ready, scythe in hand. "You may not be afraid of this thing," she said, "but the feeling's not gonna be mutual for long!" She fired a red blast at the Rahi, which then backed away from her. She fired again, and it ran away in terror._

_Mara walked over to Takua. "That was an incredibly brave thing you did back there," she said, "you have the makings of a great hero. I'm Mara, by the way." "You can call me Takua," Takua replied. "Well, Takua," Mara said, "I hope we meet again." She ran off. Takua was wise enough to get to work before the crab returned._

(End flashback)

"Now I remember," Takua said, "you know, I thought you were a Toa when I first saw you." Mara laughed. "Yes, I do resemble a Toa, don't I," she said. She went over and picked up the Mask of Light, handing it back to Takua, who quickly put it back on, transforming into Takanuva again. "You know what," Mara said, "I'm still gonna call you Takua. I like that name better." "I agree," Takanuva replied, "I only renamed myself because Takua isn't the name you'd expect a Toa to have, you know?" Mara laughed again.

"I'll be holding onto the Mask of Life," she said, "that way, that Void character can't get his hands on it." "I'm fine with that," Takanuva replied, "I trust you." Mara grabbed the mask and teleported away.

The heroes came up to Takanuva. "How'd it go," Light said, "did you get the mask back?" "No," Takanuva replied, "but I did find out that, well…"

"I think Takanuva has a crush on Mara," Essence said to Obsidian. "I DO NOT!!" Takanuva shouted. "That clenches it," Hunter said, "You do have a crush on her." Takanuva slapped himself in the face. _I can't believe I made it that obvious,_ he thought.

Hunter was not happy. Takanuva had gotten a crush on someone they had just encountered. "Why can't I get a girl?" he asked himself quietly. Midna managed to hear this and went over to him. "You're not the only one who's struck out," she said, "I thought Link liked me, but he fell for Zelda instead." "That kind of thing hasn't happened to me," Hunter said, "but I know how you feel." "Hey, Midna," Link said, "why not try returning to your normal form?" "Not a bad idea," Midna replied, as she transformed into her Twili form. Instead of what she normally wore in that form, she was wearing a black tanktop and blue jeans, with her hair loose. The single guys all got nosebleeds when she changed, except for Hunter.

"Why'd you do that?" Hunter asked, "Why'd you change into that form?" "This is my normal form," Midna replied, "and I did it because I…I…" "Oh, for the love of," Zelda said, as he pushed Midna into Hunter, who caught her. "Are you trying to say you," Hunter paused, "love me?" "Yes," Midna replied. "Get on with it!" Zelda yelled. "Match-making is our job," Obsidian and Essence said in unison to Zelda.

Bumblebee started searching through his music and settled on "Move Along" by All-American Rejects. "Nice song," Hunter said. He was surprised at first when Midna suddenly kissed him, but he soon found himself kissing her back. "About time Hunter got a girlfriend," Obsidian said. "Hunter has a girlfriend?" Light asked. Everyone anime-style fell, except for Hunter and Midna. "Will Light _ever _get it?" Shadow asked.

"I suggest we rest here," Obsidian said, "we'll go after the artifacts tomorrow." Everyone nodded in agreement.

(Elsewhere)

A Dark Link appeared in front of Void. "My lord," he said, "I have learned that the Decepticon leader, Starscream, has been killed by his counterpart from this dimension. He failed to locate the Mask of Life." "Very well," Void said, "who has it now?" "A Makuta by the name of Mara," Dark Link replied, "notably a half-breed Makuta." "I shall send my forces to recruit her," Void said, "The Mask of Life will be mine."

* * *

Shadow: That's a lot of romance.

Hunter: I know, and some of it ended my single status!

Sonic: How did Takanuva forget about when he first met Mara, again?

Notme: All the Matoran lost their memory of Metru Nui when they were awakened on Mata Nui.

Silver: In case everyone's wondering, G1 Starscream and Armada Starscream were the two Starscreams in this chapter, and Armada Starscream won the fight.

Sonic: Next Time: The first artifact we (the herooe) actually get!

All: Till Then!!


	7. A Glitter of Hope

Notme: Sorry for the long wait, guys.

(Cyclonus and Demolishor are covered in dust from being in sleep mode so long)

Notme: (Kicks the two over in a domino effect) WAKE UP!!

Cyclonus: I'm up!

Demolishor: What's for breakfast?

Obsidian: Let's just get on with this, shall we?

Shadow: This will be the first chapter to show Ultimate's character GX, short for Godzilla X.

* * *

A Glitter of Hope

It had taken Zane a very long time to convince himself to go to sleep. His mind kept replaying Blizz's death over and over again. He was worried he wouldn't be able to think of anything else. He finally drifted off after a while. He thought of when the two of them first met, over a year ago.

(Dream Sequence)

(Play "Move Along" by All-American Rejects)

_Zane was at Duel Academy, sitting at his desk. Dr. Crowler was lecturing the class about what to do when your opponent has an Egyptian God in play. One of his classmates had jokingly suggested surrendering. The screen came on, with Chancellor Sheppard's face on it. _

"_Crowler," he said, "if you're not too busy giving the class impossible odds to beat, there's a new student right outside." "Let them in," Crowler replied. The door opened, and a girl with blond hair and blue eyes walked in. She was wearing a standard Obelisk uniform, except the blue was a shade paler. "Go ahead," Sheppard said, "introduce yourself to the class." The girl nodded. "My name is Blizzeta Drake," she said, "but please call me Blizz, for short."_

_Most of the boys were ready to rip each other to shreds for the chance to date Blizz, but Zane just looked at her quietly. She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, and he knew this was love at first sight._

_--_

_It was now a week later, very late at night. Zane had just beaten Blizz in a very close duel, and thus proven himself worthy of dating her. He knew, however, that Blizz had let him win, but didn't pressure her about it. "That had to be one of the best duels I've ever played," he said. "It wasn't all that good," Blizz replied, "it was too short." "It's not the actual match I enjoyed the most," Zane continued, "It's the first time I can rightfully say I got something from winning." _

"_And what's that?" Blizz asked, though she wasn't hiding the fact that she already knew the answer. "The ability to do this," Zane replied, before kissing her. He pulled away after a few seconds. They then started off back towards the dorms._

_Not that long after, Blizz tripped on something and fell. Zane ran over to her and saw that she was okay, except for the fact that she had obviously hurt her ankle. 'What did I trip over?" she asked. _

_Zane looked around, and saw what looked to be a sword embedded, scabbard-and-all, into the ground. He figured he'd better move it before someone else tripped, but when he touched it, he immediately pulled his hand away because it was extremely cold. "What is it?" Blizz asked him. "I don't know," Zane replied, "but I think we can just leave it here." He picked Blizz up bridal-style and started to carry her to the infirmary._

(End Dream Sequence)

Zane was puzzled. "Why would I dream about a mishap?" he asked himself. "Wait, maybe the mishap wasn't the important part. Maybe, it was that sword I found." He got out of his tent and went to tell Obsidian about his dream.

(That morning)

Obsidian had the _New Ark_ ready for action again. "Where are we going?" Light asked. "Duel Academy," Obsidian replied, "there's an important artifact there that we need to recover." Everyone went onto the ship, which then warped back to Academy Island.

((Sheppard's office))

Crowler was going through all the paperwork he and Sheppard never had time for when the GX gang was actually at school. "Hey, teach," Jaden said as he, Zane, and Obsidian appeared in the room, scaring Crowler half to death. "Jaden Yuki!" Crowler said, "How many times have I told you not to appear out of thin air right in front of me?" "Uh, none," Jaden replied, "this is the first time I've ever done it."

"Well, don't do it again," Crowler said sternly. "Where's Chancellor Sheppard?" Obsidian asked, "I need to speak with him about something only he knows about the school grounds." He didn't notice that the screen was on, with Seto Kaiba's face showing.

"Anything Sheppard knows about this school," Kaiba said, "I know as well." "What do you know of the sword placed here at the school's founding for safe-keeping?" Obsidian asked. "I know that it's in the forest," Kaiba, "near where the Sacred Beasts are kept." "Sweet," Jaden said, "Seto Kaiba. I'd really love to duel you sometime!" "Ah, yes," Kaiba replied, "Jaden Yuki, is it, the winner of my contest a while back, and the best duelist in my academy? I'm looking forward to the chance to duel you myself. But that isn't why I called. It's about the loss of one of our former students. Miss Blizzeta Drake, I believe."

Jaden then remembered how Damien had heartlessly murdered Blizz the day before, and his star-struckedness went away in a flash. "I could point out the guy who did it in one of your largest stadiums," he said. "And I could throw him clear to the moon if need be," Zane added coldly.

"Kaiba," Obsidian said, "what do you know about the story of the Ice Queen?" "I only know what I've been told by your friends, the Lopezes," Kaiba replied, "about how she was an incredibly powerful, and beautiful, sorceress."

"The legend goes that if her sword, shield, and amulet are ever brought together," Obsidian said, "her one true heir will receive her powers, and be brought back from the dead no matter who or what killed them, or how long ago they died." Zane couldn't help but wonder about all this. "Tell me," he said, "is Blizz, you know, the heir?" "There's no way to be certain," Obsidian replied, "until two of the items touch, of course."

(The forest)

"These trees are not tall-high enough," Lewa griped. "What do you expect?" Light asked, "these trees aren't nearly as old as the ones you remember." "Whoa," Syrus said, "did you tutor Light or something, V?" "Nope," Vanessa replied, "Li gets this way whenever he's serious." Light blushed when Vanessa used his nickname.

Waspinator was still in the forest from the time Darkstone was there. "At least here," he said, "Waspinator can't get blown up." A tree promptly fell on him. "That's the fifth tree you've crashed into since we got here," Whenua said to Matau.

Essence's comlink starts beeping. "What is it?" she asked "We know where the sword is," Obsidian said on the other end, "it's near where the Sacred Beasts are." "Alright," Essence replied, "over and out."

They quickly found the area, since Syrus, Chazz, and Alexis wouldn't forget where the most dangerous duel fought at Duel Academy was fought. Hunter quickly found the sword and went to pick it up.

"Stop right there, Drake!" Hunter stopped dead in his tracks when he heard that voice. It was none other than War Machine. "You're not touching that sword," War continued. "I don't have time to deal with you right now, War," Hunter said. Hunter went back to retrieving the sword, when he heard the unmistakable roar of Godzilla. "You brought GX!?" Light asked.

"I came here by my own choosing," a voice said. It belonged to what appeared to be Zilla (that's the American Godzilla, who's just as cool as the Japanese version), but with heavy cybernetic reconstruction. "We'll be taking that," he continued, motioning toward the sword inches from Hunter's hand.

War walked over to try to take the weapon, but his path was blocked off by streams of lightning from above them. Flying overhead was what appeared to be a fully robotic version of King Ghidorah. "That sword belongs to Darkstone," he said. "Didn't we already kill that thing?" Knuckles asked. "That was the knockoff created by those foolish Quintessons," the robot replied, "I am the real Cyber-Ghidorah!"

GX let loose a stream of dark flames at Cyber, who dodged and retaliated with his lightning. GX took the attack without any real reaction, and activated his jetpack, flying up to take on Cyber directly. "You fool," Cyber said, "this is my element. You have no hope here!" "Maybe not in _your_ element," GX replied, "but, what about _mine_?"

He landed on Cyber's back and drove them over the water, and then turned off his jetpack. "You're too heavy!" Cyber yelled, "I can't fly alone with you on me!" "Exactly," GX replied. The two of them plummeted into the sea.

Cyber was lucky he was a robot, since he didn't need to breathe. He knew, however, that GX was still partially organic, and therefore needed oxygen, so he wrapped his tails and necks around his opponent. GX flailed about trying to free himself, and eventually switched to his human form and swam to the surface. Cyber followed after switching to his cyborg form. They continued their fight on the beach. GX was wearing all black, and Cyber's armor resembled that of Jinzo, only gold, and he had Ghidorah head designs on his gauntlets, along with a Ghidorah-stylized helmet obscuring his face.

Cyber started firing his arm cannon at GX, who dodged every shot. GX returned to his monster form and stomped Cyber into the ground. Cyber transformed as well, throwing GX off balance as he returned to his full monster size.

When GX got back to his feet, Cyber charged his gravity beams again. GX retaliated by using his own breath weapon to blow off Cyber's middle head. Cyber sent a gravity beam at GX from his right head, but GX turned it so that Cyber severed his own left head with it. Cyber then tried to fly away, but GX fired missiles at his wings, filling them with holes and rendering them useless. Cyber fell to the ground, landing hard.

During that battle, Hunter attempted to grab the sword, but jerked his hand back because it was too cold for him to touch. "Let me do it," Nuju said, as he touched the sword, able to pick it up. "It's a little cold," he said, "but I can handle it."

Obsidian arrived on the scene. "Quickly," he said, holding out a bag, "put that in here!" Nuju did as he was told. Cyber then crashed near them, obviously having lost the battle. "Now give us that sword," War said. "Let them be," GX said when he arrived, exhausted, "I'm too tired to fight them, and there's no way you'd be able to take them all on at once." "Good point," War replied, "we'll be back!" They both went into a portal leading back to the rest of the Forces.

"Good work, Hunter," Obsidian said, "War was here, and you didn't try to tear him limb from limb." "I'm angrier at Damien at this point," Hunter replied, "besides; the total rage I feel towards War vanished when Dad split the two of us."

Cyber reverted to his cyborg form, his armor critically damaged. He started to crawl towards the gang. "Please," he said weakly, "help me." "Why should we?" Syrus asked. "I can tell you where the next artifact is," Cyber replied, "but I'm not gonna last much longer in this state. My armor is a life-support system for me. If it fails, I'll die."

"I have no idea how to repair the armor while it's still attached," Obsidian said, "I'd have to remove it." "You can't," Cyber replied, "It was fused to me when Darkstone used a strange weapon he borrowed from a Makuta by the name of Teridax." "Teridax?" Vakama said, in total surprise, "as in the Makuta of Metru Nui?" Cyber did his best to shrug. "I have no idea," he said.

Obsidian helped Cyber up and warped him into the sickbay on the _New Ark_. Ratchet jumped when the two of them appeared. "You brought an enemy onto your ship?" Ratchet asked. "He's got info we need," Obsidian replied, "help me get him into a stasis chamber." Ratchet opened a stasis chamber and placed Cyber into it.

"The next artifact you need to revive Ms. Drake is on Prison Island," Cyber said. "You mean the island where Shadow was held for 50 years?" Obsidian asked. Cyber nodded, and then waited for the stasis chamber he was in to activate.

* * *

Shadow: Why Prison Island?

Notme: Don't question me!

Hunter: Alright, next time: Battle of Prison Island!

All: Till then!


	8. Battle of Prison Island

Notme: here's chapter 8.

_Shadow arrives covered with bandages_

Notme: What happened to you?

Shadow: Same thing as him.

_Light arrives covered in bandages_

Notme: I see, you ticked off Ultimate.

Shadow: Can we start, already?

* * *

Battle of Prison Island

Obsidian brought a small group of to Prison Island, leaving the bulk of the group back to defend Duel Academy. He brought Essence, Nuju, Shadow, Light, Jaden, Hunter, and Zane (the latter two having insisted on being a part of finding every artifact that could help bring Blizz back).

Shadow shuddered. "This place has nothing but pain to offer to me," he said, "Let's hurry and find that artifact, so we can get out of here." "Calm down, Shadow," Jaden said, "it's as if you were held here or something." Everyone else anime-style fell. "I just wish Cyber had given more specific instructions," Obsidian said, "I can relate with what Shadow's feeling right now."

The group noticed something shimmer in the distance. Shadow went to check it out. Upon closer inspection, it was a shield, embedded in an icy pedestal. "How can ice exist on a tropical island?" He asked. "Like this," Nuju replied, freezing a tree solid. The Toa of Ice then went over and grabbed the shield, placing it in the same bag as the sword.

A nearby carrier, that was somehow intact, despite the base being destroyed, started to rumble and shift. It soon rose up as a colossal robot. The unmistakable form of Dr. Eggmanwas visible above it. "You heroes aren't going anywhere with that shield," he said, "and my latest robot will make sure of that, since he was constructed with Cybertronian technology."

The robot moved in to attack, but strangely, and anticlimactically, fell over and exploded. A figure engulfed in dark flames emerged from the wreckage, Damien.

"Fancy meeting you here," he said, "now, hand over that shield, along with the sword that goes with it." "What do you know about them?" Hunter asked. "Just that they're relics of the past," Damien replied, "and I worry about the future, first and foremost."

"Over my dead body," Obsidian said. "I see you figured out what would happen next," Damien replied, before hitting Obsidian with dark flames. Obsidian had to use everything he had to block the attack. Hunter charged in from behind and tried to slash Damien in the back, but Damien caught Flamebreaker and snapped it in two. "You've got to do better than that," he said.

Shadow went Super and threw a powerful Chaos Storm Damien's way, only to get it right back. "Is this the best you can do?" Damien asked, "because if it is, then this will be a short fight."

"You're asking for it," Obsidian said, entering his Knight Mode. He charged at Damien and tackled him, sending him flying into a wall. Damien got up and noticed blood on his hand. He looked in a window and saw that he was bleeding from his forehead. "Wow," Damien said, "you actually wounded me. The first time we fought, you were barely able to hit me."

Obsidian didn't respond. He just gathered energy and fired a powerful blast of light at Damien, who easily deflected it at the other heroes. Hunter used Flameguard to block the blast, but the barrier was barely able to do the job. "We have to help Obsidian," Hunter said. He, Light, and Jaden all entered Armor Mode and charged, taking Damien by surprise.

Damien got back up, nearly unharmed from the combined attack. "Is that the best you can do?" he asked. "Not by a long-shot," Hunter said, going all the way to Beast-Warrior Mode. Light and Jaden decided to merge again. "Those trick again?" Damien asked, "Allow me to show you my Armor Mode!"

He was surrounded by a dark aura. When it subsided, he was wearing armor similar to that of Dark Blade. "You're off the deep end now," he said, "be careful."

Liden made the first move, but was easily repelled by Damien. Hunter had about the same amount of luck with his strike. Damien yawned. "If this is the best you've got," he said, "this won't last long."

All three of the heroes sent beam attacks at Damien, with an explosion engulfing him. His armor was slightly scratched, and his cape had a few more holes. "I guess you guys aren't worth my time after all," he said, "I'm out of here." He vanished in a flourish of dark flames.

Everyone reverted to normal. "Glad that's over," Obsidian said, "Even with some of our best moves, we barely managed to hurt him, much less weaken him."

"He's the least of your worries," said a dark voice behind them. They turned around to see the familiar form of Darkstone, holding a knife to Essence's throat. Shadows also had Shadow, Zane, and Nuju pinned. "Now," Darksone said, "hand over the sword and shield you found, or these four are dead!" "Wait," Obsidian said, "how'd you escape?" "Void was kind enough to free me from that prison," Darkstone replied, "in exchange for my loyalty to him. The funny thing is, I've already tried to get these two artifacts before, only to fail, but now that they've been removed from their resting places, the protection spells are no longer in place, so anyone can touch them!"

"You're still not getting your hands on them," Obsidian said. "Suit yourself," Darkstone replied, pressing the knife into Essence's skin, "what's it gonna be, the artifacts, or your girlfriend's life?" Essence took that opportunity to elbow Darkstone in the stomach, causing him to drop the knife and stagger backwards. "You really think you can beat me?" Darkstone asked, "If memory serves, you fear me!" "Not anymore," Essence replied, "now take a hike!" "Not before I do _this_," Darkstone said, as he injected something into Essence.

"What is that?" Hunter asked. "A potent poison," Darkstone replied, "I give her three days to live, four tops. You have until the poison runs its course to give me those artifacts, including the one you don't have yet. Of you do, I'll give her the antidote." He then left.

"Whoa," Jaden said, "Isn't Darkstone supposed to be Essence's father?" "Don't expect him to win 'father of the year' any time soon," Essence replied, "This is the sort of thing he's always done to me."

"Let's just worry about getting back to the ship," Obsidian said, as he warped them back.

(Back on the _New Ark_)

"How'd it go?" Sonic asked. "The good news is we got the artifact," Obsidian replied, "the bad new is Essence got poisoned in the process."

Obsidian quickly began to escort Essence to sickbay, where Ratchet was waiting. "We need to analyze the chemical makeup of a toxin injected into Essence's bloodstream," Obsidian said. "Right away," Ratchet replied, as he helped Essence into the scanner. Obsidian watched as the poison's components appeared on the screen. "It'll take weeks to make an antidote to this," he said, "and Darkstone's energy is in it, so my powers will be useless!"

Hunter came into sickbay. "Just so you know," he said, "I know where the last thing we need to find is. It's near what's left of the village where I grew up." "No doubt the Forces will be there," Obsidian said, "along with Darkstone, and possibly Damien, but it's our only chace to save both of your sisters."

Obsidian went to the bride and set a course for Hunter's old village.

* * *

Shadow: That was fast.

Essence: Why am I the one that's in mortal peril?

Notme: Because of the fact that Darkstone wants to get back at you for betraying him.

Hunter: Next Time: Where it all began.

All: Till Then!!


End file.
